Fourteen games later, Winston and his teammates lifted the BCS National Championship trophy.

The team across the field—Auburn—had suffered through a 0-8 SEC campaign in 2012. Junior college transfer quarterback Nick Marshall can’t take all the credit, but he played no small role in turning the Tigers around to within mere seconds of a national title.

Backup quarterbacks have long been the biggest fan favorites on rosters because they, like the start of a new season, represent the unknown and—more importantly—hope.

Today we examine 12 starting quarterbacks who could lose their jobs during the 2014 season.

To be considered for the list, the quarterback in question must have started at least half the 2013 season, or there has to be reason to believe he will be the starter in 2014.

Reasons to believe someone has a chance to start include participation as a starter in past seasons or games started during injury situations.

Brandon Allen, Arkansas

Coach Bret Bielema prefers an offense that is predicated on establishing a powerful, dominating run game and a deadly accurate play-action passing game.

Of course, such an offense only hits on all cylinders when the quarterback connects on his passes.

Brandon Allen suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder early in the third game of the season.

He only missed one game, but he was never especially effective during the conference season, at times missing wide-open receivers. In five of eight games against SEC opponents, he failed to complete 50 percent of his passes.

Inside USC reported that Texas is the front-runner to land the services of USC transfer Max Wittek, who is still debating which school to attend. He will have immediate eligibility to play because of the graduate-school clause.

Jeff Driskel, Florida

Jeff Driskel’s breakout season that wasn't ended prematurely when he suffered a gruesome leg injury during the third game of the season.

That injury served as one in a long line for the Gators, who were decimated in 2013. As a result, Florida suffered through a miserable 4-8 season that included a loss to FCS foe Georgia Southern.

Fast-forward a few months to find coach Will Muschamp, on the hottest of seats, turning to a new offensive coordinator in hopes of breathing life into a stale, predictable offense. Kurt Roper comes from Duke, where he learned under David Cutcliffe—among the game’s great quarterback-whisperers.

Roper has his work cut out for him with Driskel.

Yes, he has athleticism and helped lead the Gators to an 11-2 season in 2012.

He also has yet to show any ability to help Florida win games behind his arm. When the Gators have won with Driskel, it was largely because the defense and run game have carried the team.

With Muschamp facing so much pressure, there could be cause for incoming freshman Will Grier to get a look. 247Sports rated him as the No. 4 pro-style quarterback in the nation in the class of 2014.

Driskel will open the season with every chance to keep the starting job.

He might also lose it with the type of mistake-prone play that he exhibited last year against Miami.

Devin Gardner, Michigan

Carlos Osorio

Michigan coach Brady Hoke sent a clear message to Devin Gardner when the 2013 starting quarterback prepared for spring practice: The QB1 job is open for competition.

Shane Morris, rated by 247Sports as the No. 4 pro-style quarterback in 2013, looks to give Gardner a significant push this spring, though the incumbent starter should probably be favored to win the position.

The question now is: Which Gardner will show up in 2014?

Last year he threw eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions over his final four regular-season games.

Still, the Wolverines lost three of the four.

Ironically, during Michigan’s 4-0 start, Gardner struggled badly with turnovers. He threw eight interceptions and lost a pair of fumbles during a stretch that featured three inferior opponents.

Morris started the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in place of Gardner, who suffered a toe injury against Ohio State. The southpaw connected on 24 of 38 passes for 196 yards. He also threw an interception.

He appeared comfortable in the pocket and showed signs of finding the right receivers in the game.

Don’t be surprised to see him again if Gardner struggles with consistency in 2014.

Connor Halliday, Washington State

Life under coach Mike Leach means always being one errant pass away from sitting on the bench indefinitely.

That’s a bad sign for a quarterback who threw 22 interceptions and took 31 sacks in 2013.

Yes, Halliday led the Cougars to their first bowl game since 2003. But he also exhibited a disturbing propensity for turnovers and poor decisions.

Opponents intercepted his passes in 12 of the 13 games, leaving Utah as the lone team to play against the Cougars that did not land an interception. In six—or half—of the team’s regular-season games, Halliday threw more than one interception.

At some point in 2014—when Washington State is struggling and Leach is unable to control himself—Halliday seems like a strong candidate to take a seat.

Cody Kessler, USC

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that first-year coach Steve Sarkisian will likely name Cody Kessler the first-team quarterback in the coming days.

Should he select Kessler over redshirt freshman Max Browne, it wouldn’t be a real surprise.

Kessler started last year but split time early in the season with now-departed Max Wittek.

Once former coach Lane Kiffin was fired and interim coach Ed Orgeron installed Kessler as the man, Kessler shined. Over the final nine games, he threw 14 touchdown passes against just three interceptions.

The Trojans went 7-2 over that stretch.

Sarkisian’s decision to host an open competition meant Browne, 247Sports' No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2013, got the chance to push Kessler during spring practice.

Browne has made the most of the additional reps in practice.

Kessler seems on track to start the season, but to keep the spot he must continue to play at the high level at which he finished in 2013.

Hutson Mason, Georgia

Stephen B. Morton

Hutson Mason waited for his time to get his chance as Georgia’s starting quarterback.

Now he finds himself in a tough situation.

His high-wire act includes trying to live up to the standard of excellence set by record-breaking predecessor Aaron Murray while simultaneously fending off Georgia’s potential quarterback of the future.

The latter, Brice Ramsey, is making early waves during spring practice.

247Sports rated him as the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2013. Georgia also signed highly touted recruit Jacob Park—a true freshman who enrolled early.

Gary Nova, Rutgers

A horrific five-game stretch in the middle of the 2013 season sent Gary Nova plummeting from potential breakout star to the Rutgers bench.

The man who replaced Nova, Chas Dodd, is now gone.

Whether Nova can put that tough experience in the past remains to be seen and will largely hinge on his ability to play mistake-free football.

He had opened the season with 13 touchdown passes against just four interceptions. However, Rutgers dropped four of its next five games. During those four losses, opposing defenses intercepted Nova 10 times, while he threw just two touchdown passes.

Dodd’s departure doesn’t mean Nova has a free ride. Philip Nelson transferred to Rutgers from Minnesota, where he started 16 games over the past two seasons.